A High Court judge gave Derriford Hospital medics permission to “physically or chemically restrain” a teenager thought to have taken a drug overdose so they could save her life.

Hospital bosses from Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust asked a barrister to make an urgent out-of-hours application for permission to restrain the teenager after doctors said they were concerned that she might die if not treated.

Medics were given permission to use “physical or chemical restraint” in order to treat the 14-year-old after a lawyer outlined specialists’ concerns to a High Court judge by telephone.

Derriford Hospital, Plymouth (Image: Lucy Duval)

Mr Justice MacDonald, who is based in the Family Division of the High Court in London, held a hearing shortly after 7pm and barrister Sophia Roper outlined doctors’ fears over the phone.

Detail of the hearing, which took place on July 26, has emerged in the ruling published by Mr Justice MacDonald.

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Ms Roper had told the judge that the girl lacked the mental capacity to give her consent to treatment.

She said doctors thought that the girl had taken an overdose of paracetamol.

Ms Roper said the girl needed blood tests and other treatment as a "matter of urgency".

She said medics wanted permission to restrain the girl in order to treat her if necessary.

Mr Justice MacDonald said he had given medics permission to use "reasonable and proportionate measures, including those which involve such physical or chemical restraint as in their clinical judgment is necessary" to ensure that the teenager received treatment.